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NYU Launches MFA Writers Workshop in Paris

May 2, 2012
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New York University’s Creative Writing Program has launched a low-residency Master’s of Fine Arts program, which provides students the opportunity to work with internationally acclaimed authors and poets—including new faculty hire Nathan Englander—throughout the academic year and during a series of residency periods in Paris.

Over the length of the program, students and faculty convene in Paris for five intensive 10-day residency periods (held in January and July). While in Paris, students participate in a vibrant community engaged in all aspects of the literary arts, including workshops, craft talks, lectures, individual conferences, and manuscript consultations, as well as a diverse series of readings, special events, and professional development panels.

“The city of Paris itself—with its storied literary history and rich cultural attractions—provides an ideal opportunity for students to learn the art and craft of writing, immerse themselves in the creative process, and live the writer’s life,” said Deborah Landau, director of NYU’s Creative Writing Program. “Unlike the traditional MFA, the low-residency program is designed to offer both freedom and rigor, offering a productive and inspiring balance between the intense and stimulating community of each residency and sustained solitary work.”

During the intervals between residencies, students pursue focused courses of study in the art of Creative Writing, completing reading and writing assignments under the close supervision of individual faculty members and regularly submitting packets of work in exchange for detailed feedback and critique. These ongoing dialogues with faculty, which may also occur over email or Skype, are tailored to specific student interests and needs. Students are mentored by a different professor each term and work closely with four different writers during the two-year program.

Requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree include the completion of 32 credits of coursework (over four semesters), participation in five 10-day residencies, and the submission of a creative thesis in poetry or fiction, consisting of a substantial piece of writing—a novel or novella, a collection of short stories, or a group of poems—to be finished in the student’s final semester. The project requires the approval of the student’s faculty thesis advisor and the director of the Creative Writing Program.

MFA Writers Workshop in Paris Faculty are:

● Nathan Englander (fiction) is the author of the internationally bestselling story collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, the novel The Ministry of Special Cases, and the collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Knopf, Spring 2012).
● Meghan O'Rourke (poetry) is the author of The Long Goodbye (Riverhead), a memoir about grief, and the poetry collections Once and Halflife (W.W. Norton).
● Matthew Rohrer (poetry) is the author of A Hummock in the Malookas, Satellite, A Green Light, Rise Up, A Plate of Chicken, and Destroyer and Preserver.
● Helen Schulman (fiction) is the author of the novels This Beautiful Life, a New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book of 2011, A Day At The Beach, P.S., The Revisionist and Out Of Time, and the short story collection Not A Free Show.
● Deborah Landau (director) is the author of Orchidelirium, which won the Anhinga Prize for Poetry, and The Last Usable Hour, a Lannan Literary Selection published by Copper Canyon Press.

The MFA Writers Workshop in Paris will begin accepting applications for the Spring 2013 term beginning in late May 2012. Students may apply for either the MFA in Fiction or in Poetry. The admissions deadline is September 15, 2012. All applicants must submit using the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences application form, which may be downloaded here. For more information about the MFA Writers Workshop in Paris, including details on academics, housing, costs, and the application process, please contact the NYU Creative Writing Program at 212.998.8816 or creative.writing@nyu.edu.

Editor’s Note:
The NYU Creative Writing Program, among the most distinguished programs in the country, is a leading national center for the study of writing and literature. The undergraduate and graduate programs provide students with an opportunity to develop their craft while working closely with some of the finest poets and novelists writing today. The Creative Writing Program occupies a townhouse on West 10th Street in the same Greenwich Village neighborhood where many writers have lived and worked. The Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House allows writers—established and emerging—to share their work in an inspiring setting. For more, visit www.cwp.fas.nyu.edu.